Athletics Kenya National Cross Country championships slated for February 8, 2025 at the Eldoret Sports Club will be the first test ahead of World Athletics Championships to be held in Tokyo, Japan.
Athletics Kenya President Gen (Rtd) Jack Tuwei said that the national cross country will be part of the buildup in preparation of the Road To Tokyo.
“This is the precursor for what will happen so that when we go to the field, the athletes will be well prepared to qualify for the world championships in Tokyo but before we go there, next month, we shall have World Indoor championships in Nanjing, ahead of the May World Relays, then Africa U20 and U18 championships in Algeria,” said Tuwei after tour of the course on Thursday February 6th.
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The AK president added that after the National cross country, AK weekend meetings will kick off with its first leg set for February 15 at the Mumias Sports Complex.
“After this, we are going straight to track and field because we only have one cross country event, the Sirikwa cross country as part of our Road to Tokyo. I want to urge our athletes and coaches to prepare well to meet the qualifying standards and periods and by the time we do trials,” added Tuwei.
On the national cross country event, the president said that he was satisfied with the work done by technical officials.
“I went round to see how the course looks like and I am happy with preparations. Everything has been met by the planning committee and we are ready to host the event,” he said.
Coast region became the first team to arrive in Eldoret for the championships among the expected 12 regions, four affiliates and four new entries, the president said that all the teams are supposed to have arrived by Thursday to acclimatize, visit the route among others.
“We want to be clear on what to do when it comes to the event because this is a major competition. The teams that will be coming here, they must have been trained and ready to represent their regions and teams. All will be putting their efforts as an individual and team work,” he added.
